Studio Portrait of a Woman, Bagby 12

This elegant image conveys a sense of grace, fragility, and demure attitude often desired of white, Western women during the 1950s-60s. Women were meant to be put-together and beautiful; the male-dominated culture often colored how they were expected to act and present themselves in public. Entitled Studio Portrait, the work may have been commissioned or may have been part of another advertisement or commercial project. Regardless of its purpose, the image privileges wealth and luxury.